photo credit: James Bird

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration renewable energy now accounts for more than 10% of the domestically-produced energy in USA during the first half of 2008. Most of the energy comes from renewable energy sources such as biomass/biofuels, geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind.

This number can be compared to the 11.98% of energy that nuclear energy contributes to in USA. According to the SUN DAY Campaign the total consumption of nuclear power dropped by 1% during the first half of 2008 while the renewable energy increased by 5%.

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The Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has released his “New Energy for America” plan. If elected some of the things in his plan are 10% renewables by 2012, one million plug-ins by 2015 and energy efficiency now.

John McCain’s energy plan in comparison is, let’s say, a bit weaker. He is all about nuclear energy, a $300 million battery prize, nothing on energy efficiency and an opposition to clean renewable energy.

Here are some of the energy plans Barack Obama has for America:

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According to a secret World Bank report obtained by the Guardian biofuels have increased global food prices by up to 75%. The report dismisses the idea that droughts in Australia and rising demand from India and China has caused the rising food costs. The report instead claims that “the EU and US drive for biofuels has had by far the biggest impact on food supply and prices”.

“Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises,” said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam. “It is imperative that we have the full picture. While politicians concentrate on keeping industry lobbies happy, people in poor countries cannot afford enough to eat.”

Rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line, estimates the World Bank, and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt. Government ministers here have described higher food and fuel prices as “the first real economic crisis of globalisation”.

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Jean Ziegler, UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, yesterday called for the suspension of biofuels production saying biofuels are a “crime against humanity.”

“Biofuels, with today’s current production methods, are a crime against a great part of humanity. They’re an intolerable crime, and I requested the United Nations General Assembly in New York in my last report to the Human Rights Council that a moratorium be imposed as a five-year ban against this transformation.”

The comment was made during an emergency summit in Switzerland where the UN discusses ways to tackle the global food crisis.

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PetroSun launched the world’s first commercial algae-to-biofuel facility in Rio Hondo (Texas, USA) earlier this month.

The facility consists of up to 1100 acres (445,15 hectares) of saltwater ponds were the company will be growing the algae. 20 of those acres will be used to produce biofuels from algae. Another 20 acres will be used to produce an experimental jet fuel.

The whole facility is expected to produce around 4.4 million gallons of algal oil and around 110 million pounds of biomass per year.

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The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) Scientific Committee yesterday called for the suspension of EU’s target to increase the share of biofuels used in transport to 10% by 2020. The committee calls for a new, “comprehensive scientific study on the environmental risks and benefits of biofuels” before any targets should be set.

The committees concerns are summarised below:

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The World is facing a global food price crisis and looming mass starvation in the Developing World. The price of rice has doubled in 3 months and the price of wheat has doubled in one year. The huge increases in the price of staples such as wheat and rice is being driven by US, UK and EU diversion of food for biofuel; climate change and decreased agricultural productivity due to both inundation and drought; and globalization which means that 4 billion impoverished and under-fed people compete in the market place for those with the money to buy food to drive their cars or for grain-fed meat.

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